Xbal ERYTHROPOIETIN GENE POLYMORPHISM AND AEROBIC RESPONSE TO TRAINING IN THE HERITAGE STUDY 1105

The purpose of the study was to investigate the association between an Xbal polymorphism in the erythropoietin (Epo) gene, as determined by Southern blotting, and VO2max, as well as its response, to a standardized 20-week endurance training program (MSSE 27:721, 1995) in 332 subjects. The average post-training VO2max values reached 2.8 ± 0.8 (mean± SD) L·min-1 or 37.2 ± 10.2 ml/kg·min-1. The training increment in VO2max reached 0.4± 0.2 L·min-1. Among 124 unrelated subjects from the parental generation (52 ± 6 years), 70 were homozygous for the common allele, 3 were homozygous for the rare allele and 51 were heterozygotes. ANOVAs revealed that there were no differences in post-training and training response VO2max values between the three genotypes, and between carriers and noncarriers of the rare allele for the whole sample, in men or women, in blacks or whites. Sibpair linkage analyses were then performed between the marker and the phenotypes. No linkage was found between post-training or delta VO2max phenotype, and the Epo Xbal polymorphism. The results of this study show that the Epo Xbal polymorphism is not associated nor linked to aerobic performance response to training.